Skip to main content

'Please be patient'

Subhead
Local election officials get deluge of early ballots, brace for historic Election Day
By
Lori Sorenson

Minnesotans are shattering records for early voting in the 2020 presidential election, and Rock County is on pace to do the same.
Auditor-Treasurer Ashley Kurtz is Rock County’s chief election official, and she said voter activity is truly historic.
“I anticipated that we would have a larger amount of people absentee voting but the actual number has exceeded my expectations,” she said.
“It's also been interesting to see the number of people who have never voted getting registered and voting for the first time or even for the first time in a long time.”
In addition, Kurtz said her office has registered a large number of new voters — more than 230 — and updated a large number of voters from inactive status.
 
By the numbers
Nearly 40 percent of Rock County’s 5,547 registered voters live in mail ballot precincts.
These 2,154 voters don’t have a physical polling place and their ballots were automatically mailed to them several weeks ago.
Of those, more than half (1,246) were returned as of 5 p.m. Monday. Some came by U.S. mail and some were delivered in person.
Kurtz said more than 100 people have come to the courthouse for in-person absentee voting.
She said her office has issued 1,104 absentee ballots to those who requested them, and 857 were returned by day’s end Monday.
Considering both absentee and mail ballot precinct voters, Kurtz said she accepted a total of 2,103 absentee and mail ballots, which equates to 38 percent of Rock County’s total registered voters.
And the heaviest activity is expected in the remaining week before Nov. 3.
By comparison, the 2016 presidential election garnered 502 absentee ballots and 1,202 mail ballots at the end of Election Day.
 
‘Please be patient’
Kurtz said the most important message to voters this year is “Be patient,” especially considering the historic election is timed with mounting numbers of local coronavirus cases.
“This election is already on pace to shatter all sorts of records,” she said. “Unfortunately, it's also happening in the midst of a pandemic.”
She said her staff and election judges tested safety measures during the Primary Election; she said turnout was too low for adequate training.
“The true test will come on Nov. 3,” Kurtz said. “Lines will likely be longer as election judges work to keep everyone safe by cleaning voting booths and maintaining distance between voters. Please be patient with those election judges. Without their willingness to serve, we wouldn't be able to exercise our right to vote.”
Meanwhile, she’s praying none of her staff or election officials contract the virus while they struggle to stay ahead of ballots.
“The biggest challenge for us is obviously the large amount of absentee ballots. It takes a lot of time to process an absentee ballot from start to finish,” she said, adding that they’ve had to keep up with the other functions of the office, including CARES Act fund distribution.
And the phone keeps ringing.
“We have received numerous phone calls about a variety of things,” she said, adding that they’re mostly related to pandemic precautions.
‘We’ve never had the option to drop ballots off in a drop box before so we've received questions about that. We've also had questions about needing an appointment to vote absentee. There have been a few people that haven't been happy about that, but it's really for the safety of everyone involved.”
The courthouse structure in general doesn’t allow for long lines for people to be socially distanced, and appointments allow for distance and time to clean voting areas between voters.
“And then we’re constantly hoping that one of us doesn't become sick or have to quarantine,” Kurtz said. “While we have a plan in place if that were to happen, we'd rather not have to go down that road.”
Luverne, Hills and Martin Township polling places will be equipped with pandemic accommodations.
These includes sneeze guards for election judges, hand sanitizing stations, social distancing signs, periodic wiping down of surfaces, a new pen for every voter, and more.
“This may slow things down just a little at the polls,” Kurtz said.
 
Planning for the unknown
Kurtz said there has been an “incredible” amount of planning invested into this election year, but she said the finish line keeps moving.
“It is so hard to plan for the unknown, and a lot of times it seems like once we have a plan, something changes so we have to pivot and start over,” she said.
For example, the special session law that allowed ballots to be opened after the close of business on Oct. 20 applied only to absentee ballots.
Accepted mail ballots can't be processed until seven days before Election Day.
“Most counties assumed the session law included mail ballots, so we were all disappointed when that clarification came out earlier this week,” Kurtz said.
“It caused us to again pivot, with our operations plan but we are used to it with this year.”
While they can’t process mail ballots yet, she said her staff has begun opening absentee ballots this week and run them through the machine.
Kurtz said election staff will remain on duty on election night until all precincts are reported, whatever time that may be.
“Our plan is to have all absentee and mail ballots open and run through the machine prior to 8 p.m. (when polls close),” she said.
“We will not be processing any write-ins on Election Night. Those will be handled in the days following the election. I anticipate that will actually help us have polling place results earlier in the night.”
As precincts report results, they’re sent online to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, which posts results on its website, sos.mn.us.

You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.